Upside down flag, sign at Tea Party disrespectful

I attended a great tea party in Fergus Falls on Tuesday night. Someone counted over 700 others who attended. The people were patriots -- no unruly or mobs amongst this crowd.

Scott Hennen, and many other good speakers, got the crowd's attention. Concerned citizens were invited to speak at the "open microphone." Many spoke of their great fears for our country. The signs that people carried showed concern over current issues that affect all of us taxpayers, as well as concerns that will affect our future generations. The moral climate of our country, the huge debt which our grandchildren will inherit and the disastrous ObamaCare were big issues.

There was one very disheartening (angering might be a better choice of words) part of the event. Although I did not confirm it myself, we were told that the chairman of an Otter Tail County political party carried a huge American flag on a long flag pole. The disturbing part was that he intentionally positioned the flag upside down. How disrespectful. When we think about what the flag means to all of us who love this country (Republicans and Democrats alike) this act of disrespect is absolutely shameful. Yes, absolutely shameful.

Some individuals expressed their feelings regarding this evil expression of opposition to our event. And they had every right in the world to be angry. Some of them have served in our military, and some have family and friends who have served in the military and, in some cases, lost their lives protecting this country and our freedom.

Another obviously disrespectful sign, "Jesus was a Socialist," was carried by someone who makes a habit of showing up at various events. He makes his rounds and likes the attention he gets, even if it's negative attention. Pretty sad.

So where do we go with this? The first reaction is to ignore them, saying they legally have the freedom to express their feelings. However, out of respect for our military and others who love this country and our flag, we need to express our feelings too.

Thanks to all of you who have respect for our flag and a special thanks to those of you who have fought to protect it.